First Meditation by Descartes
by Descartes begets the question that if dreams can be perceived as reality in terms of them being as real as reality then why can this preconceived reality of ours be considered as fake as dreams.
Furthermore, Descartes draws an analogy that once deceived by someone we fail to trust them, however, we keep falling in the traps of deception laid out by our senses yet continue to trust them repeatedly. Some things like colour and texture can be real but what is not real is the complete picture. Geometry and arithmetic are simple things hence they can be real but sciences like physics, astronomy and medicine are all dubious. Descartes does believe in the existence of a good God, He would not put such false perceptions into the minds of people so there has to be an existence of a demon responsible for malicious acts like creating illusions which would deceive people. Some things can be proved without doubt using only reason. If one would wonder that if nothing is true then what is true. If a person is doubting something then that person would surely exist however that person is an “I” that is thinking, what is this “I” responsible for the thinking. The mind in itself is purely a machine which is responsible for thinking. If everything Descartes perceives is not true then what is true is the fact that he perceives because the mind of a human being has a capacity to think and to perceive. Descartes draws another analogy over here; He gives the example of wax and how the human mind can differentiate between melted wax and wax whereas they both are the same hence the mind has to capable of differentiating and reasoning. However, the senses can change what we perceive but the reality in itself often does not change. Senses have the ability to deceive a person so a person needs to exercise his intellect in order to perceive reality in its true form because there is only thing which can be rationally proved that what exists for sure is the human mind.
Descartes uses reason to prove the existence of a human mind. I agree with the fact that we can not prove without a shadow of a doubt the falsity of reality or anything for that matter and the only thing that we know for sure is the fact that we as human beings posses a mind which should be used in order for us to perceive reality correctly. However, I do not agree with the fact that the existence of a demonic presence spoiling our senses can be proved solely on the basis of reason, this has to be presupposed.
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